The California Coastal Commission appears poised to give a green light to a Grover Beach seaside hotel that was approved by the City Council but stalled when two Coastal Commissioners appealed the project.

It's unclear whether a neighborhood association will push forward with its lawsuit over the hotel, although the group's president said conditions of approval proposed by the Coastal Commission staff do not address all of the group's concerns.

Commissioners are scheduled to consider the Pacific Coast Hotel, planned for the corner of Highway 1 and West Grand Avenue, Thursday during their three-day meeting in Oceanside.

The commission staff is recommending approval of the hotel after issues raised by the two commissioners were apparently resolved by more detailed plans for mitigating impacts.

In September 2007, the 20-unit condominium hotel and commercial development, proposed by Ron Perkins of IGIT Inc. of Grover Beach, was approved with conditions by the City Council.

But in November, Coastal Commissioners Patrick Kruer and April Vargas appealed that decision based on five concerns, including a prohibition on privately owned condominiums in the coastal zone, setbacks from environmentally sensitive Meadow Creek, water-quality protection, and the size, density and intensity of the project.

The staff said the project is not a condominium project in the classic sense because the units are not for permanent occupancy. Instead, it is a small hotel requiring condominium financing to succeed, and units will be reserved for transient occupancy.

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To assure units are available to visitors, the Coastal Commission staff recommends limiting unit owners' use to 84 days per year, with additional restrictions on the number of days within specific periods.

Staff noted that revised plans increase the building setback from Meadow Creek, and a comprehensive habitat restoration plan will be implemented for the riparian area between the hotel and creek.

In addition, the hotel would have to provide a drainage, erosion and sedimentation plan for collecting, filtering and treating runoff.

To address visual concerns, the revised design would use earth-tone colors, include more stone and wood, change flat roofs to pitched roofs and add native landscaping.

The observation tower will provide ocean views not otherwise available, and the tower, walkways, a central courtyard area and a rooftop deck will be dedicated to free public use.

Although the project's demand on water and sewer services was cited in the appeal, the commission staff said that a comprehensive review of public service allocations and uses is needed but beyond the developer's ability to resolve.

Even if the full commission agrees with the staff's recommendation and approves a coastal development permit, the conditions don't satisfy all the concerns raised in a November filing by the North Grover Beach Neighborhood Alliance.

Mike Wilson, president of the 15-member group, said the conditions do address the group's concern about the Meadow Creek setback.

“They've pushed (the setback demarcation line) back from the middle of the creek - which we always thought was crazy - to the edge of the creek,” he said.

But he noted the project violates the LCP's traffic access policies, and the conditions don't resolve the issue of private ownership, protect visual resources or address the increase in density.

Wilson said representatives of the North Grover Beach Neighborhood Alliance plan to attend the Coastal Commission hearing “to put a face on this” issue, but he isn't sure whether the group will proceed with its lawsuit.

“That decision will be made by the (alliance) board members themselves,” he said.

August 5, 2008